hmaxims's Link
I also shot a doe with a fawn inside (fully developed) in October. Would have been born in Nov.
Here in Missouri the bow season is open until 01/15. A few years ago on 01/16 I looked out my office window behind my house and there was the 10 ptr I had been hunting all season having his way with a doe...Right behind my house in the middle of the afternoon...Guess he had a calendar...8^)
Good thing for you that there wasn't a warden around to see 'em.... If they were real faint, you'd probably get some slack, but you know the rule here....
If it's brown, it's down, but if you see a spot... Shoot it not!
Which is kinda stupid. Politically, yeah.... When they required that deer be transported in open view, it probably wasn't good for the public perception of hunting to see spotties going through the check stations, but from a management standpoint, you can shoot all of these you want (this time of year, especially) without hurting the herd any because the expected survivorship is so low....
Of course where the population is too high, the DEEP would rather see you take the dam and let the coyotes get the fawns so there will be no births in the spring....
And FWIW, a few years ago, I saw a young doe with TWO bucks on her tail.... In Feb.
Good thing for you that there wasn't a warden around to see 'em.... If they were real faint, you'd probably get some slack, but you know the rule here....
If it's brown, it's down, but if you see a spot... Shoot it not!
Which is kinda stupid. Politically, yeah.... When they required that deer be transported in open view, it probably wasn't good for the public perception of hunting to see spotties going through the check stations, but from a management standpoint, you can shoot all of these you want (this time of year, especially) without hurting the herd any because the expected survivorship is so low....
Of course where the population is too high, the DEEP would rather see you take the dam and let the coyotes get the fawns so there will be no births in the spring....
And FWIW, a few years ago, I saw a young doe with TWO bucks on her tail.... In Feb.
We keep thinking of the rut as a well defined period when actually it is a bell curve with a few individuals far from the peak. I think it's something that may help the species survive adverse conditions that can occur at different times. Late born fawns may be born after a severe spring storm and have a decent chance of making the winter.
